Studying the ancient past of the Korean peninsula became a central objective in the studies and surveys conducted by the Japanese colonial administration in Korea from the protectorate era (1905-1910) through to the end of colonial rule. These academic investigations were also part of the colonial government's political agenda to control Korea. It established the Commission for the Investigation of Korean Antiquities (1915), which aimed to investigate and protect the past, and the Commission for the Compilation of Korean History (created in 1922 and renamed a Society in 1925) in order to write the history of the peninsula up to the period of Japanese rule. These projects occupied a critical position among the tasks conducted by Imperial Japan.
This international conference will explore Japanese academic practices towards Ancient Korea (history, archaeology, heritage protection policies), while also considering the precedent established by French archaeological practices in colonial Cambodia and the case of continental China. The aim will be to analyze the relationship between archaeology, history, and the "politics of the past" as practiced in colonial situations during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Ultimately, in terms of "reconstructing" the past, the case of French Indochina and the EFEO (French School of Asian Studies, founded in 1900) established an important precedent; in the same manner, Korean colonial archaeology became a model for the archaeology conducted in China during the interwar period, as well as for North and South Korean archaeologies and for post-1945 Japanese
archaeological and historical research.

FUJIHARA Sadao (Ibaraki University) : Colonial Archaeology in East Asia: A Comparison between Objectives and Practices

Speakers Li Sŏngshi is a professor at Waseda University, director of the Institute for Korean Studies, and the first director of the Ryusaku Tsunoda Center of Japanese Culture. He specialises in ancient Korean history and the historiography of colonial Korea. His current research focuses on the wooden tablets found in Korea. He has published several books, including Peoples and States in Ancient East Asia (Tokyo: Iwanami, 1998), The Invented Past (Seoul: Samin, 2000), Archaeology and the History of Ancient Korea (co-authored with Saotome Masahiro, Tokyo: Yūzankaku, 2002), Colonialism and History (Tokyo: Tōsuisha, 2004), and Iwanami Koza Japanese History (co-editor, Tokyo, 2015).

Arnaud Nanta is an assistant professor at the French National Center for Scientific Research (Umifre 19, Maison Franco-Japonaise). He studies the history of humanities and social sciences in modern and contemporary Japan, with a special interest in colonial scholarship and knowledge in colonial Korea. He recently published "L'organisation de l'archéologie antique en Corée coloniale (1902-1940): du terrain aux musées coloniaux" (Ebisu 52, 2015; http://ebisu.revues.org/1635), and "Ethnic Shows and Racial Hierarchies in Modern Japan" (Journal of Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 2015, 30).

Ch'oe Sŏg'yŏng received a Ph.D. from Hiroshima University. He subsequently worked at the National Folk Museum of Korea. Since 2010 he has been the director of the Museum of Performing Arts at the National Theater of Korea. He studies the Japanese production of knowledge on Korea under colonial rule, beginning with the history of the "research into ancient customs" conducted by Japan, and has published several books and academic papers in Korean. Recent publications include Japan's colonial process of knowledge-making on Joseon (Seoul: Minsokwŏn, 2012), The Colonial Archaeology of Korea During and After Japanese Rule (Seoul: Sŏgang University Press, 2015).

Saotome Masahiro is a professor at Tokyo University. An archaeologist specialising in ancient Korean history, he also studies the history of archaeology within the Korean peninsula and has published several books and academic papers on the subject. These include The Archaeology of the Korean Peninsula (Tokyo: Dōseisha, 2000), The Archaeology and History of Ancient Korea (with Li Sŏngshi, Tokyo: Yūzankaku, 2002), The Fieldwork Conducted in Asia by Sekino Tadashi (coedited, Tokyo University Press, 2005), and Archaeological Studies on Silla (Tokyo: Dōseisha, 2010).

Yoshii Hideo is an archaeologist and professor at Kyoto University. In addition to specialising in the Korean peninsula, he takes an interest in the history of archaeological activities in Korea. He has developed several initiatives aimed at strengthening academic relations between Japan and Korea. Recent publications include Ancient Korea: State Formation as Seen through Tumuli (Kyoto University Press, 2010).

Hakoishi Hiroshi is an assistant professor at the Historiographical Institute, Tokyo University. He works on compiling Japanese historical materials dating from the end of the Shogunate and the Meiji Restoration. As part of an academic agreement between the Historiographical Institute and the Korean Commission for the Compilation of National History, he previously conducted research on Japanese documents relating to the compilation of Korean history during the colonial era. This has enabled him to clarify the role of the Historiographical Institute and the colonial government. He is the author of Modern Japanese Historical Studies and the Compilation of Korean History by the Government-General of Korea (Japan and Korea during the Premodern Era, Tokyo: Yamakawa, 2007).

Hyung Il Pai is a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has published monographs, articles, and book chapters, and given lectures on the history of archaeology, anthropology, heritage management, tourism, and visual culture. Her research focuses on imperialist and nationalist discourses viewed from a post-colonial comparative perspective between Japan and South Korea. Her books include Constructing "Korean" Origins. A Critical Review of Archaeology, Historiography, and Racial Myth in Korean State-Formation Theories (Harvard University Press, 2000), and Heritage Management in Korea and Japan: The Politics of Antiquity and Identity (University of Washington Press, 2013).

Fujihara Sadao is a professor at Ibaraki University. His work focuses on the history of archaeological research in French Indochina, in particular the studies conducted by the Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient. He also examines the status of "Colonial Archaeology" in East Asian modern history. He has published several academic papers and is the author of The Melancholy of the Orientalists: French Orientalists during the Colonial Era and the Archaeological Studies of Angkor (Tokyo: Mekon, 2008).

Studying the ancient past of the Korean peninsula became a central objective in the studies and surveys conducted by the Japanese colonial administration in Korea from the protectorate era (1905-1910) through to the end of colonial rule. These academic investigations were also part of the colonial government's political agenda to control Korea. It established the Commission for the Investigation of Korean Antiquities (1915), which aimed to investigate and protect the past, and the Commission for the Compilation of Korean History (created in 1922 and renamed a Society in 1925) in order to write the history of the peninsula up to the period of Japanese rule. These projects occupied a critical position among the tasks conducted by Imperial Japan.This international conference will explore Japanese academic practices towards Ancient Korea (history, archaeology, heritage protection policies), while also considering the precedent established by French archaeological practices in colonial Cambodia and the case of continental China. The aim will be to analyze the relationship between archaeology, history, and the "politics of the past" as practiced in colonial situations during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Ultimately, in terms of "reconstructing" the past, the case of French Indochina and the EFEO (French School of Asian Studies, founded in 1900) established an important precedent; in the same manner, Korean colonial archaeology became a model for the archaeology conducted in China during the interwar period, as well as for North and South Korean archaeologies and for post-1945 Japanese archaeological and historical research.

FUJIHARA Sadao (Ibaraki University) : Colonial Archaeology in East Asia: A Comparison between Objectives and Practices

Speakers Li Sŏngshi is a professor at Waseda University, director of the Institute for Korean Studies, and the first director of the Ryusaku Tsunoda Center of Japanese Culture. He specialises in ancient Korean history and the historiography of colonial Korea. His current research focuses on the wooden tablets found in Korea. He has published several books, including Peoples and States in Ancient East Asia (Tokyo: Iwanami, 1998), The Invented Past (Seoul: Samin, 2000), Archaeology and the History of Ancient Korea (co-authored with Saotome Masahiro, Tokyo: Yūzankaku, 2002), Colonialism and History (Tokyo: Tōsuisha, 2004), and Iwanami Koza Japanese History (co-editor, Tokyo, 2015).

Arnaud Nanta is an assistant professor at the French National Center for Scientific Research (Umifre 19, Maison Franco-Japonaise). He studies the history of humanities and social sciences in modern and contemporary Japan, with a special interest in colonial scholarship and knowledge in colonial Korea. He recently published "L'organisation de l'archéologie antique en Corée coloniale (1902-1940): du terrain aux musées coloniaux" (Ebisu 52, 2015; http://ebisu.revues.org/1635), and "Ethnic Shows and Racial Hierarchies in Modern Japan" (Journal of Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 2015, 30).

Ch'oe Sŏg'yŏng received a Ph.D. from Hiroshima University. He subsequently worked at the National Folk Museum of Korea. Since 2010 he has been the director of the Museum of Performing Arts at the National Theater of Korea. He studies the Japanese production of knowledge on Korea under colonial rule, beginning with the history of the "research into ancient customs" conducted by Japan, and has published several books and academic papers in Korean. Recent publications include Japan's colonial process of knowledge-making on Joseon (Seoul: Minsokwŏn, 2012), The Colonial Archaeology of Korea During and After Japanese Rule (Seoul: Sŏgang University Press, 2015).

Saotome Masahiro is a professor at Tokyo University. An archaeologist specialising in ancient Korean history, he also studies the history of archaeology within the Korean peninsula and has published several books and academic papers on the subject. These include The Archaeology of the Korean Peninsula (Tokyo: Dōseisha, 2000), The Archaeology and History of Ancient Korea (with Li Sŏngshi, Tokyo: Yūzankaku, 2002), The Fieldwork Conducted in Asia by Sekino Tadashi (coedited, Tokyo University Press, 2005), and Archaeological Studies on Silla (Tokyo: Dōseisha, 2010).

Yoshii Hideo is an archaeologist and professor at Kyoto University. In addition to specialising in the Korean peninsula, he takes an interest in the history of archaeological activities in Korea. He has developed several initiatives aimed at strengthening academic relations between Japan and Korea. Recent publications include Ancient Korea: State Formation as Seen through Tumuli (Kyoto University Press, 2010).

Hakoishi Hiroshi is an assistant professor at the Historiographical Institute, Tokyo University. He works on compiling Japanese historical materials dating from the end of the Shogunate and the Meiji Restoration. As part of an academic agreement between the Historiographical Institute and the Korean Commission for the Compilation of National History, he previously conducted research on Japanese documents relating to the compilation of Korean history during the colonial era. This has enabled him to clarify the role of the Historiographical Institute and the colonial government. He is the author of Modern Japanese Historical Studies and the Compilation of Korean History by the Government-General of Korea (Japan and Korea during the Premodern Era, Tokyo: Yamakawa, 2007).

Hyung Il Pai is a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has published monographs, articles, and book chapters, and given lectures on the history of archaeology, anthropology, heritage management, tourism, and visual culture. Her research focuses on imperialist and nationalist discourses viewed from a post-colonial comparative perspective between Japan and South Korea. Her books include Constructing "Korean" Origins. A Critical Review of Archaeology, Historiography, and Racial Myth in Korean State-Formation Theories (Harvard University Press, 2000), and Heritage Management in Korea and Japan: The Politics of Antiquity and Identity (University of Washington Press, 2013).

Fujihara Sadao is a professor at Ibaraki University. His work focuses on the history of archaeological research in French Indochina, in particular the studies conducted by the Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient. He also examines the status of "Colonial Archaeology" in East Asian modern history. He has published several academic papers and is the author of The Melancholy of the Orientalists: French Orientalists during the Colonial Era and the Archaeological Studies of Angkor (Tokyo: Mekon, 2008).